Adam Pankratz: Eby shoots himself in the foot with cynical election call

Premier David Eby fired the starting gun for the 2026 B.C. election on Tuesday and then stubbed his toe, tripped and wobbled through the rest of the week. Anticipating a divided B.C. Conservative party, he has been surprised by the quick coming together of the province’s centre-right politicians, who agree above all else on one thing: Eby has to go.

Lorne Doerkson, the newly minted Conservative leader, has exceeded expectations. Chosen to replace the disaster that was former Conservative leader Kerry-Lynne Findlay and her reign of chaos, Doerkson has brought a calm, nonthreatening dad feel to the party.

Gone are the fringe elements and MLAs who had been allowed to flourish under Findlay. The rapid coalescence of a moderate, calm and focused Conservative party has caught Eby off guard. He still seems to think he’s running against Findlay, who he referred to as a “MAGA regional manager,” and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Eby’s opening press conferences have been replete with references to extremism, Trump and MAGA conservatives. Those accusations may have landed well on Findlay, but they are not sticking to Doerkson, who is widely respected as a salt-of-the-earth, earnest British Columbian.

So far, Eby hasn’t pivoted, and it’s costing him. As he talked of building a “fire break” in British Columbia against Trump, video emerged of Doerkson in the forest actually fighting wildfires. The contrast could not be more stark. Whatever Eby’s qualities and accomplishments may be — and there are few to speak of — they do not include grabbing a hose and jumping on the front lines to combat wildfires.

Indeed, given how awkward Eby generally looks when surrounded by working people, it’s practically an open question as to whether he knows how to open a tap. Pressed on the issue, Eby has had little response to Doerkson’s real-world service, other than implying that he has Trump sympathies. It is risible and beneath the dignity of a premier.

Further, the relentless deflection of blame from Eby to Trump for the sad state of the province after nine years of NDP governance, including nearly four years under Eby, is unlikely to land with voters. At a press conference on Thursday, Eby again blamed Trump for high grocery and gas prices.

Voters, already unimpressed with a cynical election call, don’t appear to be buying this nonsense, and neither is the media. Also on Thursday, an Angus Reid poll put the Conservatives at 43 per cent, with the NDP trailing with 35 per cent, which, if the numbers hold, would result in a massive Conservative majority.

Eby is locked in an echo chamber from which he can’t seem to hear the difficulties affecting British Columbians. His failed drug experiments have harmed public safety. Closed hospitals and interminable wait times have left British Columbians desperate. Never-ending and ever-expanding deficits have left B.C. fiscally weak, and future British Columbians will be paying the debt off for decades. It is a sad state of affairs.

Ultimately, Eby can’t run on his record because his record is awful. British Columbians know this. They also know that while Trump may be a problem in general, he’s not responsible for B.C.’s current sorry state and, above all, he’s not running for premier in this election.

There is still a long, long way to go in this election. But David Eby needs to understand he’s running against Lorne Doerkson, not Donald Trump. And right now, the only real fire break with any street cred is Doerkson.

National Post